Now that we have a nearly fully functional battle system, battling in pwo should now start to change in a way that will support multiple strategies, many different types of lineups, and different ways for the same pokemon to be trained that I think a forum discussing this would be a huge benefit to the community and bring back some discussion to the forums.
Before I continue I do want to note I am on my smartphone and it's midnight so I will give a tldr version and come back with a HOLY STORY version latter.
When PWO first started the major component of it's success was the community, a community that was built strongly on an active and engaging forum along with other sources. The forum featured many sub forums that encouraged all sorts of different players to not only create new topics, but reply on existing topics creating many interesting discussions. This kept many community members engaged and interested in PWO even when their interest in playing dwindled. I believe the community has shrunk, and players have left at an alarming rate due to the interest in the forums declining. Many interesting sub forums are no longer around, and interesting topics have come to a screeching halt.
Subforums I am talking about are the following: Help and Guides (moved to the wiki), ban appeals (moved to the pdex), suggestions (moved to pdex, came back was not the same), and finally report a bug (moved to pdex). As you see many of these have moved to the pdex, leaving the forums causing many topics that use to be the center of discussions leaving. Ban appeals for better or for worst was the drama part of the forums, keeping people entertained. Help and Guides are often what made people a part of the game and caused them to be entrenched. suggestions made people feel like their input mattered and they could communicate with other players to flesh out ideas and receive feedback from both players and staff members, causing interactions between both parties. Finally report a bug allowed players to discuss bugs and figure out ways to either get around them, figure out how bad they were, and in some cases exploit them.
I do not know how pdex is doing with the subforums that were moved there, but I do know the forum itself has taken a huge blow and so have the community. With the game progressing and a huge update to the battle system, it is time to focus on the community again. PWO needs to bring players in and retain them even when they have finished the first part of the game and they start to lose interest. Ask yourself, would you still be here after you finished the gym battles if it wasn't for the community at the time you started?
The first step in this is by creating more topics where players can come to the forums and know they have something new and interesting to read and a chance to reply with fresh input. I believe a battle forum would go a long way in creating this. Battle strategies are a huge part of any MMO and pwo is no different. The more complicated the battling system the more room there are for different strategies and ways to "figure out" the meta. Pokemon is one of the more complex battle engines amount MMOs. The number of pokemon, number of lineups, how the pokemon is trained for a preferred way of battling makes a fully functioning battle system very complex with many possible discussions to support it.
Visit other gaming websites, many forums have a such area, an area when new players can look to see what is viable so they don't have to waste time building a team that is noncompetitive. An area where experienced players can go and try to break the meta and find the 'best' strategy, or find a strategy that is unique and may surprise people. An area where you can brag about your successes and figure out where you went wrong in their short comings and understand how to do better next time. An area for competitive players as well as the player who simply wants a few wins every now and then.
It time to start focusing on building the community back up and I believe an area dedicated to battling on the forums would be a great start. Listed below are a few sample sub forums with potential topics I see being a major part of such a sub forum. Please reply below if you think you know other topics you would like to see in such a battle forum and if you support such a forum or not. Showing your support will show the PWO staff this is desired and should be looked at seriously,
Battle forum dedicated to all strategies and discussion of training and battling.
Sub-forums
Different battle strategies (how the hell do I stop Batton pass?)
Few recommended topics:
Post your pokemon lineup.
Post your epic battle results (vid)
Why this pokemon in this situation is better than this pokemon
Training strategies and guides:
Sample topics:
Best places to EV train
What EVs should I do for x pokemon.
What is the best moveset/ev training for this type of pokemon.
Tier strategies
Lvl 50 and under discussion
Lvl 25 and under discussion
Commons only discussion
When PWO first started the major component of it's success was the community, a community that was built strongly on an active and engaging forum along with other sources. The forum featured many sub forums that encouraged all sorts of different players to not only create new topics, but reply on existing topics creating many interesting discussions. This kept many community members engaged and interested in PWO even when their interest in playing dwindled. I believe the community has shrunk, and players have left at an alarming rate due to the interest in the forums declining. Many interesting sub forums are no longer around, and interesting topics have come to a screeching halt.
Subforums I am talking about are the following: Help and Guides (moved to the wiki), ban appeals (moved to the pdex), suggestions (moved to pdex, came back was not the same), and finally report a bug (moved to pdex). As you see many of these have moved to the pdex, leaving the forums causing many topics that use to be the center of discussions leaving. Ban appeals for better or for worst was the drama part of the forums, keeping people entertained. Help and Guides are often what made people a part of the game and caused them to be entrenched. suggestions made people feel like their input mattered and they could communicate with other players to flesh out ideas and receive feedback from both players and staff members, causing interactions between both parties. Finally report a bug allowed players to discuss bugs and figure out ways to either get around them, figure out how bad they were, and in some cases exploit them.
I do not know how pdex is doing with the subforums that were moved there, but I do know the forum itself has taken a huge blow and so have the community. With the game progressing and a huge update to the battle system, it is time to focus on the community again. PWO needs to bring players in and retain them even when they have finished the first part of the game and they start to lose interest. Ask yourself, would you still be here after you finished the gym battles if it wasn't for the community at the time you started?
The first step in this is by creating more topics where players can come to the forums and know they have something new and interesting to read and a chance to reply with fresh input. I believe a battle forum would go a long way in creating this. Battle strategies are a huge part of any MMO and pwo is no different. The more complicated the battling system the more room there are for different strategies and ways to "figure out" the meta. Pokemon is one of the more complex battle engines amount MMOs. The number of pokemon, number of lineups, how the pokemon is trained for a preferred way of battling makes a fully functioning battle system very complex with many possible discussions to support it.
Visit other gaming websites, many forums have a such area, an area when new players can look to see what is viable so they don't have to waste time building a team that is noncompetitive. An area where experienced players can go and try to break the meta and find the 'best' strategy, or find a strategy that is unique and may surprise people. An area where you can brag about your successes and figure out where you went wrong in their short comings and understand how to do better next time. An area for competitive players as well as the player who simply wants a few wins every now and then.
It time to start focusing on building the community back up and I believe an area dedicated to battling on the forums would be a great start. Listed below are a few sample sub forums with potential topics I see being a major part of such a sub forum. Please reply below if you think you know other topics you would like to see in such a battle forum and if you support such a forum or not. Showing your support will show the PWO staff this is desired and should be looked at seriously,
Battle forum dedicated to all strategies and discussion of training and battling.
Sub-forums
Different battle strategies (how the hell do I stop Batton pass?)
Few recommended topics:
Post your pokemon lineup.
Post your epic battle results (vid)
Why this pokemon in this situation is better than this pokemon
Training strategies and guides:
Sample topics:
Best places to EV train
What EVs should I do for x pokemon.
What is the best moveset/ev training for this type of pokemon.
Tier strategies
Lvl 50 and under discussion
Lvl 25 and under discussion
Commons only discussion
